Topic: Whatever
Well, at the very least, mostly stops a city. The Melbourne Cup was run today, and The Good Doctors invited me over to have lunch and watch the race with them. It was almost eerie, how quiet it was in Melbourne as I headed over to their place around lunch time. Cup Day is a holiday in Melbourne, and masses of people go to the races, either to see and be seen in suits and fancy dresses and outrageous hats, or to tailgate in the carpark and watch the races on giant screens. A bit like Preakness, except that it's a Tuesday, there's a holiday for the races, and nobody I know goes to Preakness dressed anything like this (in particular, no man I know goes to Preakness wearing something from The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins, more's the pity). I love this city.
The big news this year was that Eva Longoria from Desperate Housewives turned up to do something celebrity-related (totally eclipsing the appearance of Stevie Nicks), and that the Melbourne Cup was won for the third time in a row (never been done before) by Makybe Diva, who, it was argued, couldn't win the race because she's a girl and she's too old and would have to carry too much weight. But she was the people's favorite, and the roar that went up from the crowd when she ran up along the outside of the pack to take the lead was incredible. Also incredible - her jockey's reaction. He burst into tears as they crossed the post and never came down off his high. Thanked everybody he knew about six times, including the horse. I joke, but it was actually very affecting, and it made me realize how infrequently we see expressions of spontaneous, heartfelt joy on television - the unscripted moments really stand out.